1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a phase-change random access memory and a method of setting a boot block in the memory that can reduce loss of boot data.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Boot sequence information or programs that initialize computer systems when the power is turned on, may be stored in a non-volatile memory device. The boot sequence information or the programs are stored in a part of the non-volatile memory device assigned in advance, which may be referred to as a boot block.
When the non-volatile memory device is a flash memory device, a write operation is performed on a region including a plurality of memory cells. A boot block may be set to include the least number of memory cells to which the write operation can be simultaneously performed.
However, the size of the data to be stored in the boot block may not correspond to the size of the boot block, and thus, a plurality of memory cells may be wasted. The data stored in the boot block is needed for operating a system. However, the data may not persist in the boot block due to a weak durability of the non-volatile memory device.
Thus, there is a need for phase-change random access memories that can efficiently realize a boot block and efficient methods of setting a boot block in a memory device.